I’ve been playing Masquerade on the regular for the past few weeks, and what strikes me is how they don’t sound like a lot of buzzy Euro-indie bands of late. They aren’t really post-punk (like Fontaines D.C.), and they aren’t doing the “proggy theater kid” thing (Black Country, New Road and the Geordie Greep cinematic universe). Instead, for lack of a better term, they’re doing indie-rock sounding indie rock, in the circa “2004 to 2007” sense. They remind me of the first two Walkmen records, with maybe a dash of Gimme Fiction era Spoon, though with a pronounced “non-American” feel to it. The accordion takes up significant sonic real estate, to winningly dissonant effect, similar to what horns and violins did on indie-rock records 20 years ago. “I Like You” is on the prettier side of their spectrum, though you get a sense of their dynamism in the “loud middle” section. Overall, Masquerade is really good indie-rock sounding indie rock if that’s your thing (which I’m guessing it is if you’re here)